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Best bird guides by region...Africa (1 Viewer)

jurek said:
Are there any guide books to DRC or Sudan, other than The Birds of Africa and HBW?
Click to expand...

There is no field guide covering all of Sudan (except a very old one by Cave and MacDonald), as it forms a bit of a transition between different African regions. A few years ago, I summarised the best books to use in the country on my blog Link.

Tom
 
tjbirder999 said:
There is no field guide covering all of Sudan (except a very old one by Cave and MacDonald), as it forms a bit of a transition between different African regions. A few years ago, I summarised the best books to use in the country on my blog Link.

Tom
Click to expand...

As most of Sudan is Desert, there aren't going to be many species missing from the book I linked to, they may be covered in a volume on North Africa?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Birds-Midd...of+north+africa&qid=1572945685&s=books&sr=1-4

The above book covers neighbouring Egypt so there must be some of the missing species in this? I think south Sudan will be covered in my first link as it is sub-Saharan and as such, more species rich.

Sudan species 653 with 1 endemic
South Sudan species 889 (Avibase)
 
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annawoods said:
The book Birds of Southern Africa is probably the best available field guide to the birds of southern Africa. However, that does not mean it’s without shortcomings. Having more illustrations of each species (as with the Sibley guides) would be valuable. In most cases, there were only two illustrations of each species, only rarely including alternate plumage or juvenile birds. There were several times while birding in South Africa that I had difficulty identifying birds in something other than the adult plumage usually illustrated in this book. I have written lots of about this awesome book. On the other hand, providing more illustrations would significantly increase this book’s size from one that is already too large to be carried comfortably as a field guide. I also found that sometimes the distribution maps were inaccurate (this may be due to their small size).
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Most people would not use this book for South Africa, there are too many irrelevant species.

Most books that cover a big area with a lot of species, will have to compromise somewhere if the book is intended to be portable. It would have to be twice the size it is, to include juvenile and alternate plumages and so would become impracticably large for field use.
 
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A couple of things to report - just signed up a new edition of Demey & Borrow's FG Birds of Ghana.

And the second edition of FG Birds of East Africa's departure to the printers is imminent. Publishing in November.

Jim
 
Also freshly underway – Birds of the Horn of Africa, 3rd edition. This Helm field guide will be publishing in June 23. Available in both paperback and new hardback version.
Jim
 
Jim Martin said:
A couple of things to report - just signed up a new edition of Demey & Borrow's FG Birds of Ghana.

And the second edition of FG Birds of East Africa's departure to the printers is imminent. Publishing in November.

Jim
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Advance copies of the new edition of Birds of Ghana are HERE. The book publishes early February next year (hardback and paperback editions).

Jim
 

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Jim Martin said:
Advance copies of the new edition of Birds of Ghana are HERE. The book publishes early February next year (hardback and paperback editions).

Jim
Click to expand...
That looks superb, a shame it will be too late for my forthcoming visit.

Didn't even know that this was in the pipeline.
 
Hey y'all

I will be spending sometime in the field in Central African Republic and Republic of Congo and I am looking for a good field guide. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!
 
Moritz said:
Hey y'all

I will be spending sometime in the field in Central African Republic and Republic of Congo and I am looking for a good field guide. Any suggestions?

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
Birds of Western Africa by Nik Borrow and Ron Demey is the standard field guide for the region, and covers both CAR and the Republic of Congo, so this would be the first choice
 
Birds of Angola by Mills, Demey and Borrow is now listed on the Princeton University Press website with a publication date in September 2024.
press.princeton.edu

Birds of Angola

The most comprehensive illustrated field guide to the magnificent birdlife of Angola
press.princeton.edu press.princeton.edu
 
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